Mike Tyson reveals his rap on new Madonna album was inspired by Italian dictator Mussolini

"People may say 'this guy’s a fascist' but you can take positivity from watching him," says retired boxer

Mike Tyson has claimed that he was inspired by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the rap he recorded for Madonna‘s new album

Retired boxer Tyson appears on the ‘Rebel Heart’ song ‘Iconic’ alongside Chance The Rapper. The official tracklist to ‘Rebel Heart’ was released on iTunes earlier this week. The album also features a collaboration with Nas entitled ‘Veni Vedi Vici’ and one with Nicki Minaj called ‘Bitch I’m Madonna’. As previously reported, Madonna has also worked with Avicii and Diplo on the record.

Speaking to Roling Stone in a new interview about his surprising role in the forthcoming record, Tyson revealed the unlikely inspiration. “When I did it, I think about being some guy like [Benito] Mussolini and they’re really arrogant, but you try to come from a positive perspective and be uplifting,” he said. “You watch Mussolini on television — even though we don’t understand what he’s saying — he is so mesmerising. I look at myself in that way.”

Addressing Mussolini’s reputation, he added: “I know people may say, ‘This guy’s a fascist’ and all this stuff, but man, you can take positivity from watching him. No wonder why Hitler was attracted to him. This guy’s a hypnotic figure. There’s so much pride behind what he’s saying. I’m not even Italian and I feel the pride he’s projecting. He had that street swag; he was doing this stuff with his hands and moving his head before it was even hip-hop.”

Madonna is due to release ‘Rebel Heart’, the follow up to 2012’s ‘MDNA’, on March 9. On Christmas Day, 14 tracks supposedly taken from the record were leaked, while six unfinished demos were previously released without the singer’s consent earlier in 2014.

Yesterday, it was reported that Israeli police had arrested a 39-year-old man suspected of hacking into Madonna’s computer and leaking her new album. The arrest was made following a month-long investigation by the cyber crime unit of Israel’s Lahav 433 branch (an organisation comparable to the FBI) and a private investigation firm.